YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, August 3 (RIA Novosti, Pyotr Tsyrendorzhiyev) - Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov and an 87-member Chechen delegation have gone by train to Sakhalin Island (Russia's Far East) as part of the Train of Friendship event, Sakhalin's regional authorities said.
"Sergei Abramov and Sakhalin regional governor Ivan Malakhov signed a bilateral agreement on friendship and cooperation," a spokesman said.
The purpose of the event is to help familiarize the Russian people with the peaceful developments in Chechnya (a north Caucasian republic within Russia). The delegation comprises journalists, public figures, and performers.
The event's agenda includes concerts, the presentation of a new Chechen poetry collection, and several roundtable discussions on the situation in the North Caucasus.
"Young Chechens who have left Chechnya for the first time have been giving concerts during train stops, discovering Russia for themselves, and I believe they have understood that there is another life without terror and fear," said Yevgeny Sobetsky, adviser to the Chechen government.
On Thursday the train will leave Sakhalin to cross Russia en route to the city of Kaliningrad, Russia's western end point.
